Piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, flowers, and tea are the eight things that were respected in ancient times. Shiyun: "Those who are good at the piano are able to be calm, and those who are good at chess are wise and wise." Those who are good at writing are affectionate and sexual, and those who are good at painting are perfect and beautiful. Those who are good at poetry rhyme to their hearts, and those who are good at drinking are confidants. Those who are good at tea cultivate their sentiments, and those who are good at flowers have a pleasant character. As a model of personality of Dr. Qinglishi, the life interest of "drunkard" Ouyang Xiu is inelegant everywhere.
Statue of Uncle Ouyang Yong
01
Piano chess
In the image of literati cultivation, the qin is a very important part, and its status can be seen in the first place. According to legend, the purpose of Fuxi piano making is to express people's spirituality and communicate with nature, so as to achieve the cultivation of the soul.
Fuxi-style "Yu Ting Qingyun" Qin Tuo Source: Chitose Sound - A Collection of Chinese Guqin Rubbing
Of course, the guqin made by Fuxi is an earlier five-string guqin. By the time of Ouyang Xiu, the guqin had already developed from five strings to seven strings. Ouyang Xiu's cultivation of the qin art also refers to the practice and appreciation of the seven-string guqin. People who love the piano often give their piano an elegant name, and the "Chitose Sound" is passed on as Ouyang Xiu's old thing, and Ouyang Xiu's "61" seal is still collected and preserved.
"Chitose Sound" Piano Source: Chitose Sound - A Collection of Chinese Guqin Rubbing
In addition to the "thousand-year-old sound", the ancient books also record three Yongshu Tibetan qins, Ouyang Xiu's "Three Qin" text:
My family has three pianos, one of which is Zhang Yueqin, one is Lou Zeqin, and one is Lei's Qin...... One of them is Jin Hui, one is Shi Hui, and one is Yu Hui. Jin Hui, Zhang Yueqin; Shi Hui, Lou Zeqin; Yuhui, Lei Shiqin also. Jin Hui's voice is smooth and distant, Shi Hui's voice is clear and slow, and Yuhui's voice is harmonious and more than enough.
These three instruments have been lost in the long river of history. However, from Ouyang Xiu's evaluation of the use of these three pianos, it can be seen that he is very expert in piano skills. Uncle Yong said that Zhang Yueqin was "smooth and far away"; said that the building is the qin, then it is "clear and slow"; Speaking of Lei's qin, it is "harmonious and more than enough", and being able to distinguish the sound of the qin in detail requires profound guqin skills. As a generation of Confucianism, the "harmonious and more than sufficient" Lei's qin is more in line with Ouyang Xiu's aesthetics of music, and the so-called "etiquette is different, music contract" in "Music Theory" emphasizes the idea of harmony with music.
Song Listening to the piano (detail)
Although Lei's qin is more in line with Confucianism and Taoism, but the piano emblem is the symbol of the string phoneme, the gold emblem and jade emblem on the surface of the piano are easy to reflect at night under the candle flame, and the stone emblem is not easy to reflect, which is convenient to take the sound by hand. In his later years, Ouyang Xiu suffered from eye diseases, and "middle finger spasm", playing the piano helps to dredge the blood and tendons, and Ouyang Xiu used playing the piano as a tool for health care, "I have forgotten all the songs for more than ten years", and reviewed the songs that have been forgotten all year round.
Schematic diagram of the structure of the guqin (Zhongni style) Source: Research on Chinese guqin inscriptions
Ouyang Xiu can play the qin, and often use the qin to meet friends, the qin has the effect of empathy and rejuvenation, which is the most suitable for this kind of occasion. Ouyang Xiu's piano friends, such as Fan Zhongyan, Su Shunqing, Su Shi, Jiang Xiufu, Sun Daozi and others, were all literati bachelors at that time.
Fan Zhongyan statue
Among Ouyang Xiu's piano friends, it is particularly worth mentioning Shen Zun. The story of Shen Zun and Ouyang Xiu is still talked about. Around the second year of Huang You (1050), Shen Zun served as a doctor of Taichang during the Northern Song Dynasty. After visiting the Drunken Man's Pavilion, Shen Zun recited the meaning of "The Story of the Drunken Man's Pavilion", incorporated the qin sound, and thought of composing a song "The Drunkard's Yin" for Yong Shuhe.
Drunken Weng Pavilion Source: Chuzhou Municipal Government Portal
Su Shi's book Drunken Weng Pavilion Ming Tuo Collection of the Palace Museum
Shen Zun's qin music has not been shown after the creation, the so-called mountains and rivers, bosom friends are hard to find, to the second year of Zhihe (1055), Shen Zun was finally able to meet Ouyang Xiu for the first time, on the way to Ouyang Xiu's envoy to Khitan to meet him, for Ouyang Xiu personally played this "drunkard Yin".
"The Drunkard's Yin" and "Three Stacks of Palace Voices", the artistic level is very high, Ouyang Xiu was also very moved after listening to this song, and personally wrote "The Drunkard's Yin and Preface" for Shen Zun as a lyric. After Uncle Yong's big stroke, "The Drunkard's Yin" also gradually spread, and it was greatly appreciated by the people. It's a pity that the lyrics created by Ouyang Xiu don't quite match "The Drunkard's Yin" and can't be sung well with the piano song. Good deeds vied with each other to spread "The Drunkard's Song" and compose new tunes for the lyrics in "The Drunkard's Song and the Prelude", but none of them were ideal.
"The Drunkard's Yin" and preface Source: Ouyang Wenzhong's public collection
Nearly thirty years have passed, and Ouyang Xiu and Shen Zun have turned into a handful of loess and passed away. It's just that Shen Zun's disciple Cui Xian has been thinking about this matter, and he feels very sorry for the fact that there is no song without words, so he asked Ouyang Xiu's disciple Su Shi for advice, "I often hate this song without words, but compose its voice, please be a monk in Dongpo." ”
This regret was settled between Ouyang Xiu and Shen Zun, and then ended dramatically between their disciples. In the fifth year of Yuanfeng (1082), at this time Su Shi was demoted to Huangzhou, Cui Xian came to pay homage from the bamboo cane and mango shoes of Lushan, and the two hit it off at first sight. After explaining the regret of "The Drunkard's Yin", Cui Xian "sounded for the strings", Su Shi "relied on the lyrics", and the piano music was completed in one go, without a word being deleted. Word Cloud:
"Lang Ran is round, who plays? The empty mountain is speechless. Only the drunkard knows what it is. The moon is bright and the wind is dew. People are not sleeping, and the lotus is before crossing the mountain. Say you have a heart! This chord. The drunkard roared, and the sound was like a flowing spring. After the drunkard went, there was no morning and night resentment. The mountain is sometimes the same top, the water sometimes returns to the abyss, Si Weng has no age, Weng is now a flying immortal, this song is in the world, listen to the two or three strings. ”
This song and this word have been circulated to this day.
"The Drunkard's Song" piano score Source: Wumen piano score continued
In Ouyang Xiu's literati cultivation, chess skills have not fallen behind. For Ouyang Xiu, the piano is often accompanied by chess, "there is a piano, there is a game of chess", which is very elegant.
Song Jizhou kiln underglaze brown plum bamboo pattern Go jar Jiangxi Provincial Museum collection
Song Jizhou kiln glazed brown color Go table Ji'an County Museum collection
Song porcelain Go Zi Jingdezhen Folk Kiln Museum collection
Ouyang Xiu is very obsessed with the game of Go, he loved to play chess in his early years, although his chess skills are not very exquisite, but he and his friends often have to play a few games before they feel comfortable physically and mentally. Ouyang Xiu has a special poem about Go, which records that he was playing chess with others when he dreamed:
"Dream in a Dream"
Ouyang Xiu
The night is cool and blows the flute, thousands of mountains and moons, and the road is dark and charming, with hundreds of flowers.
I don't know how to change the world after chess, and I have no choice but to think about my family.
"Playing the flute in the cool night" and "the road is dark and charming", the development of the chess game is in a misty and dreamy atmosphere. And "chess does not know how to change people" is an allusion to Wang Qianke's bad Ke. "Narrative of Differences" contains the Jin Dynasty Wang Zhen into the mountain to pick wood, meet two boys to play, then put the axe on the sidelines, a game to watch, and then down the mountain is already a thing or a person, a hundred years of vicissitudes.
Qing woodcutter viewing chess in the collection of the Palace Museum
In the misty fantasy world, Ouyang Xiu woke up, and he could only use the power of wine to dispel the sadness and sorrow of homesickness. The world is like a trance-like dream, and the person who holds the son is not a person in the game, and the chess game in the dream makes Ouyang Xiu more helpless and frustrated in his life. Where did Ouyang Xiu's sorrow come from? When the career was in high spirits, the situation changed like "eight thousand Chaoyang Road", and he supported Fan Zhongyan's reform but was suppressed, and he left Beijing for several years, but he still could not return. When Ouyang Xiu's career was smooth in the past, there was naturally an endless stream of people playing chess, but now he is in a sad situation, his relatives and friends in the past are not around at this time, and even playing chess can only become a dream pastime.
Nine times out of ten, life is unsatisfactory, "61 layman" may be more enthusiastic about playing chess because of the vicissitudes of the world, just like Su Shi does not like to play chess, but loves to watch chess, between victory and defeat has its own rational interest, "victory is happy, defeat is also gratifying." Youzai wander, talk about Fuer'er. "The ups and downs in the chess game, the ups and downs of life like waves, it seems that it is not so annoying, Uncle Yong's dream chess fun may be here.
02
Painting
Ouyang Xiu has a deep attainment in calligraphy, Su Shi commented that his calligraphy "is dangerous, the font is new, diligent and sensitive, and it is a family of its own", and Zhu Xi also commented: "Ouyang Gong's words are like a person, if the outside is excellent, and the real is strong." ”
Song Ouyang practice regular script "Burning Ai Ti" Collection of the Palace Museum
Ouyang Xiu's calligraphy style characteristics pursue a kind of divine will, and do not stick to the law, his calligraphy can be swayed freely in self-entertainment, a rigid and energetic, a twist and turn, all of which are majestic moods. The formation of this style is not unrelated to his love for gold and stone science. Zhu Xi said: "The collection of gold and stone is unseen in ancient times, and it is covered from Ouyang Wenzhong", Ouyang Xiu can be said to be the pioneer of the Northern Song Dynasty gold and stone science. The "gold" in epigraphy mainly refers to bronzes and their inscriptions; The "stone" in epigraphy mainly refers to stone inscriptions. The "book stores the gold and stone gas", and the "gold and stone gas" is from the gold and stone science, which promotes the rise of calligraphy and stele learning, and the "gold and stone gas" from the gold and stone science has a considerable impact on the creation of calligraphy and painting.
Mao Gongding inscription rubbing Source: Mao Gongding inscription
In order to revive Confucianism and restore the rule of etiquette, the emperors of the Song Dynasty already had a preference for antiquities, and sorting out and studying antiquities also became a craze among the Song people. In the fourth year of Ouyang Xiu's Qingli (1044), after the failure of Fan Zhongyan's reform, Ouyang Xiu was also demoted to the locality, and Ouyang Xiu was bored after being demoted, and gold and stone inscription became his biggest hobby. Ouyang Xiu's friends were also able to travel around to help Ouyang Xiu collect inscriptions due to official transfers. Over a period of about 20 years, Ouyang Xiu collected more than 1,000 rubbings, which he compiled into a book in the eighth year of Jiayou (1063). The book is also the first monograph on the archaeology of gold and stone in the history of academia.
Preface to the Ancient Catalogue Source: Ouyang Wenzhong Public Collection
The rise of gold and stone science has brought about a simple and ancient aesthetic style of gold and stone inscription, which is integrated into calligraphy and painting, forming a tendency to worship the ancient. In the field of calligraphy and painting, the official of the Song Dynasty organized personnel to compile the ten-volume book of "Chunhua Secret Pavilion Law", mainly using the works of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi as the law of calligraphy.
Wang Xizhi's Chunhua Pavilion Law Book Shadow Source: Chunhua Pavilion is the rarest book
The "law" of the Dharma provides a traditional model and a model of imitation, but after the flood of imitation of the model, calligraphy is inevitably pretentious and cannot be natural. Ouyang Xiu is not opposed to the reverence of the ancients, but his reverence for the ancients is not a rigid preservation of the material and cultural relics of the previous generations, but a kind of spiritual veneration of the ancients, and it is the strength to obtain the vigor and freshness of the artistic creation of the ancients. For calligraphy, he believes that "learning calligraphy should be a family of its own, and it imitates what others call slave calligraphy", and it is precisely because of this ancient concept derived from Jinshi that Ouyang Xiu's calligraphy can "become a family of its own".
To obtain the power of ancient meaning, not only from the form, but more importantly, from the spiritual core. Guided by this philosophy, "ancient" means "ancient" in accordance with nature, and requires the artwork to truly reveal human nature. As Ouyang Xiu's preface to the "Collection of Ancient Records" reads:
"Since King Mu of Zhou, the Qin and Han dynasties, the Sui and Tang dynasties, the five dynasties, and the four seas and nine states, the famous mountains and Daze, the poor cliffs and valleys, the barren forests and broken mounds, the gods and ghosts, and the strange legends, all of them are all there, thinking that the "Collection of Ancient Records".
Ouyang Xiu's collection of gold and stone calligraphy and paintings, Confucian belief is not the main factor he considers, "immortals and ghosts, strange things", Yongshu still does not discriminate to include them, such a standard is aesthetic, not moral. The collection of antiquities led by the royal family of the Song Dynasty was more enthusiastic about the ritual vessels that represented the legitimacy, and there was little interest in the folk relics in the mountains. On the other hand, Ouyang Xiu's collection of gold and stone calligraphy and paintings, a large number of works by non-famous artists in the folk account for a considerable proportion.
"Biluo Tablet" is the earliest existing Song Ta, the original tablet in today's Shanxi Xinjiang County in Longxing Temple. In the third year of the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (670), the four sons of Li Yuanjia, the king of Han, erected a monument to commemorate his deceased mother.
"Biluo Monument" Song Tuoben part
The stele does not have the signature of the author, the calligrapher and the engraver, and the last word is missing a stroke, making it difficult to identify the true appearance of history, which gives rise to various theories about its provenance. Among them, there is a legend that is widely circulated, and Ouyang Xiu quoted "Luozhong Jiyi" in the "Collection of Ancient Records" to record it.
Legend says that after the inscription is written, which calligraphy master should be found to engrave the inscription? But it's not clear for sure. Suddenly, one day, two Taoist priests took the initiative to come to the door and asked to take on the heavy responsibility of carving the monument. During the inscription of the monument, the two Taoist priests closed the doors and windows and carved in the house for three days without making the slightest sound. Someone thought it was weird, so they broke down the door to find out. At this time, a strange thing happened, there was no trace in the house, only two white doves flapped their wings and flew away, and in a blink of an eye, the inscription had appeared on the stone tablet. Carefully examined, the last word "and" at the end of the inscription "What is the end of the day" has not yet been engraved, because the door was opened too early and too hasty, leaving only the double seal of the white dove. And the legend of this "double pigeon inscription" is also engraved on the right side of the stele body of "Biluo Monument".
03
Poetry wine
Poetry and wine are often combined. The combination of poetry and wine is an important tradition of ancient poetry in the mainland. Wine can be drunk anytime and anywhere, as recorded in "The Story of the Small Window": "Spring drinking is suitable for the suburbs, summer drinking is suitable for gardening, autumn drinking is suitable for boating, winter drinking is suitable for room, and night drinking is suitable for the moon." "A cloudy wine, a poetic feeling, all kinds of compassion, sent into the sad intestines, in exchange for endless happiness.
Yuan Zhao Mengfu Xingshu Wine Virtue Song Scroll Collection of the Palace Museum
Wine is often a way to dispel sorrow and relieve worries, and when Uncle Yong's officialdom is frustrated and his heart is frustrated, wine is his best partner. Existing documents show that Ouyang Xiu wrote a total of 55 poems during his time in Chuzhou, including 26 poems related to wine, accounting for nearly half of Ouyang Xiu's Chuzhou poems.
Song Jingdezhen kiln blue and white glaze backflow pot collection of the Palace Museum
Song Cizhou kiln white ground black flower "Qinggu wine" bottle Shanghai Museum collection
Ouyang Xiu was called a drunkard, and in his later years, he called himself a 61 layman, and these two titles are all related to wine. His autobiography, The Biography of the 61 Layman, records the origin of his title and its relationship with wine:
The 61st layman was the first to go to Chushan and called himself a drunkard. Both old and decrepit and sick, will retire on Yingshui, and then change the name of 61 layman. The guest asked: "June 1st, what does it mean?" The layman said: "My family has a collection of 10,000 volumes, a collection of 1,000 volumes of gold and stone relics for three generations, a piano, a game of chess, and a pot of wine. The guest said: "It's for May Day, what's the matter?" The layman said: "With my one Weng, old between these five things, isn't it sixty-one?" ”
10,000 books, 1,000 gold and stone records, a piano, a chess, a wine, a Weng, this is "61". As a generation of great writers, the most representative of his poetry is this wine, because of wine, there is a poetic drunkard, because of wine, the drunkard has access to the world. Just as Dionysus, the god of wine in ancient Greek mythology, can represent the spirit of art, wine is associated with poetry that is in great need of inspiration, and wine brings passion, freedom, resistance, and liberation, which is a kind of transcendent romance in classical Chinese poetry. "The article is too guarded, waving thousands of words, drinking a thousand bells", the spirit of wine is the spirit of poetry in Ouyang Xiu, which is the realm of literati and doctors.
Ming Qiujiang Gin Picture Scroll Collection of Shanghai Museum
When they are happy and happy, people can also drink alcohol, which is different from the function of wine when they are depressed to make people sad and uneasy, and the wine at poetry meetings and drinking parties is more of a kind of entertainment and communication. In poetry meetings and cocktail parties, sometimes poems are used to accompany wine, and sometimes wine is used to accompany poems. During Ouyang Xiu's residence in Yingzhou, he presided over a grand poetry and wine party in Juxingtang, and "Juxingtang Poetry Collection" is the product of Ouyang Xiu's Yingzhou poetry and wine party.
In such a pleasant occasion as the poetry and wine party, it is inseparable from music and dance, and the beauty, wine, song, and dance complement each other. Ouyang Xiu's masterpiece "Huanxi Sand" can show this pleasant atmosphere very well:
Huanxi Sand
Ouyang Xiu
The people on the embankment draw boats one by one. Shoot the embankment and the spring water hangs down in all directions. Luyang House goes out on a swing.
The white-haired man with flowers is not smiling, and the six are urging the shooting. Where is life like before!
The beautiful scenery of the lakeshore and the moving music and dance can stimulate people's wine, and wine can promote poetry. The "Liume" in "Six Mo Urging the Frequent Transmission of Beats" is the name of the dance music of the Song Dynasty. The white hair wears flowers, indicating that Ouyang Xiu's Yaxing is still undiminished in his later years.
04
Tea
The love of flowers is a kind of elegance for the literati. Flowers can be a metaphor for beauty, king, and noble character...... In many cases, liking flowers is not only about the visual beauty and olfactory fragrance of flowers, but also about a moral value judgment.
Ouyang Xiu loves peonies, "he was a guest of Luoyang flowers". In the eighth year of Tiansheng (1030), Ouyang Xiu, a 24-year-old jinshi, stayed in Luoyang, Xijing, to push officials. Xijing peony is diverse, the flowers are clustered, the flowers are like a brocade, Ouyang Xiu's "Xie Guanwen Wang Shangshu Hui Xijing Peony" recorded peony varieties have "Yao Huang", "Wei Hong", "Belt Basket", "Splash Ink", "Crane Ling" and so on. Luoyang real estate peony, Luoyang people love peony, this atmosphere directly led to Ouyang Xiu's love for peony.
Xie Guanwen Wang Shangshu Hui Xijing Peony Source: Ouyang Wenzhong Public Collection
In fact, the appreciation of peonies was extremely hot in the Tang Dynasty, and Bai Juyi wrote: "The imperial city is in the twilight of spring, and the noise is noisy. When sharing peonies, buy flowers with each other. …… Every family is customary, and everyone is confused. "The beautiful peony has won the love of everyone with its huge flowers and full color, and more importantly, the peony has a gorgeous character, which can flaunt the uninhibited and noble status of the lovers, which is the moral value and significance of the peony.
Among the daily necessities preserved in the Song Dynasty, there are many patterns of peonies, which is enough to show that this kind of love and popularity.
Song Dengfeng kiln carved peony pattern pillow Shanghai Museum collection
Song Yue kiln blue glaze peony pattern plate bottle collection of the National Museum of China
Song Yaozhou kiln blue glaze carved peony pattern bottle Shanghai Museum collection
However, the peony can be appreciated by everyone, which casts a vulgar shadow on the peony, and the fanaticism of the peony cools down, and it is easy to have some disgust. Some Song people prefer the elegance of plum blossoms and the unstained nature of lotus flowers to the gaudy vulgarity of peonies. For Confucianism, peonies are too gorgeous, to a certain extent, endangering the image of a righteous gentleman, many literati are shy about peonies, and would rather love plum, bamboo, orchid, chrysanthemum, these more morally "gentleman" flowers and plants.
Ouyang Xiu was the first scholar in the Song Dynasty to boldly affirm the aesthetic value of peonies, and his "Luoyang Peony Chronicle" made a moral justification for peonies. Under Ouyang Xiu's vision, the peony is so beautiful that if you don't appreciate it, it will seem incomprehensible. Peony is neither a "demon" nor a "disaster", and there is nothing wrong with its beauty. The moral significance of flowers has always been in people's absence, but people in the world are often willing to use it to promote narrowness. For Ouyang Xiu, the peony is not only not cheesy, but also has a tough taste of strong bones.
With Ouyang Xiu's predecessor as a benchmark, the pleasure of visiting the peony is no longer a shy thing, and he never shies away from the color and mood brought by the peony, and he will not feel pressure and anxiety when immersed in such a voice, all of which is entrusted to Ouyang Xiu to establish a new image of non-"demon" and non-"disaster" for peony.
"The beauty of flowers", it is normal for people to love the beauty of flowers. Since Ouyang Xiu vigorously admired peonies, future generations had nothing to scruple about creating with peonies as the theme, and it was very natural for literati to express peonies in their paintings. Ouyang Xiu's descendants such as Su Shi and Sima Guang are outspoken about the happiness given by peonies, Su Shi wrote "The Story of Peony", and Sima Guang has "The Story of Paradise". Since Ouyang Xiu, the peony has re-entered the aesthetic spectrum of the literati without being humble or arrogant, and the subject matter of literati painting has also been newly expanded.
Song peony picture page, collection of the Palace Museum
Song Flower Basket Picture Page Collection of the Palace Museum
The last elegance in the ancient eight elegances is tea, and Ouyang Xiu has a deep relationship with tea, which can be described as a "tea man". He participated in the reform of the tea law in the Northern Song Dynasty, drafting the "Edict on the Law on Trade and Tea", advocating the free circulation of tea in the market, improving the heavy tea tax and the volatile tea law; He also studied the water quality of tea, and wrote "The Legend of Daming Water" and "The Story of Fucha Landscape", which put forward the research and identification of water taste on the basis of Lu Yu's division of the water quality of tea "on the mountain, in the river water, and under the well water". However, the root of tea tasting lies in the quality of tea, and what best reflects Ouyang Xiu's relationship with tea is his connection with Longtuan Tea and Shuangjing Tea.
Ouyang Xiu's favorite tea is Longtuan tea, and he believes that Longtuan tea brings together "the Yinghua of heaven and earth" and is "the most spiritual thing". When Ouyang Xiu was repairing the "New Tang Dynasty Book" and "New Five Dynasties" in the Hanlin Academy, Song Renzong thanked him for his hard work in repairing history, so he gave him a pound of dragon and phoenix group tea, and then gave him every month as an example.
Longtuan tea is the tribute tea of the Northern Song Dynasty, taste Longtuan tea, to use jade water injection, gold grinding, fine silk light sieve, with the flow pattern like a silky rabbit to drink, very exquisite and luxurious.
Song Jianyao Rabbit Milli Lamp Collection of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Museum
In the Qingli period of Renzong, Cai Xiang served as a transfer envoy and supervised the production of a more expensive Xiaolongtuan tea, Ouyang Xiu was also fortunate to get it, and he wrote the "Longtuan Tea Postscript" for Cai Xiang's "Tea Record" It is recorded:
"Tea is the essence of things, and the small group is its essence, the so-called high-grade dragon tea is also, covering from the beginning of Jun Mo and the year of supply. Renzong is especially precious, although he is a minister who is a minister, he has not tasted it. However, on the eve of the southern suburbs, the Privy Council of the Chinese Book gave a cake to each other, and the palace people pasted it on the dragon and phoenix flowers and plants. The two houses and eight families are divided to return, do not dare to try, the Xiang family is a treasure, and there are good guests from time to time, and they are passed on to play. In the seventh year of Jiayou, he enjoyed the Mingtang fast, and the founder gave a cake, and the rest was also predetermined, and it has been hidden so far. ”
The preciousness of the small dragon group is no longer comparable to the dragon and phoenix group tea. Song Renzong was very fond of the Xiaolong Group, and even if he was a high-ranking official in the Song Dynasty, he never rewarded him. It was only during the ritual of worshipping the heavens that Renzong would reward the Zhongshu Province and the Privy Council with a piece of bread each, and each cake would be divided equally among the four people. 1/4 of the small dragon group was kept at home by high-ranking officials as treasures, and only when distinguished guests came, they would take it out for people to admire, and they did not dare to eat and drink. In the seventh year of Jiayou (1062), Ouyang Xiu finally got a piece of Xiaolongtuan tea cake, which he kept it all the time.
Song Tongquan Dragon Group Tea Model Legend Source: Xuanhe Beiyuan Tribute Tea Record
Song Bamboo Circle Dragon Group Tea Mold Legend Source: Xuanhe Beiyuan Tribute Tea Record
Shuangjing tea is produced in Huang Tingjian's hometown of Hongzhou Fenning (now Xiushui, Jiangxi), and the "Tea Recipe" records that "Hongzhou Shuangjing white buds, extremely fine". Huang Tingjian praised it in a poem:
《Shuangjing Tea》
Huang Tingjian
Shuangjing tea, the hometown of the valley,
A sip is still a three-day boast.
Warm spring and rain,
New branches and old branches are budding.
Drink a sip of Shuangjing tea, the mellow taste of the tea makes people feel that it will be remembered for three days. Huang Tingjian often gave this mellow tea to his friend Su Shi. Hongzhou and Ouyang Xiu's hometown of Jizhou Luling (now Ji'an, Jiangxi) belonged to Jiangnan West Road in the Song Dynasty, and Shuangjing tea, as a Jiangxi custom, was also Ouyang Xiu's favorite. Ouyang Xiu once commented on "Shuangjing Tea" as "the first grass tea" in "Returning to the Field": "Since Jingyou, Hongzhou Shuangjing white buds have gradually flourished, and the production has been especially fine in recent years, with red yarn, but one or two taels, and dozens of catties of tea are raised, and the air of summer and humidity is used. Its product is far out of the sun, so it is the first herbal tea. ”
Shuangjing tea germinates very early, the buds are like phoenix claws, there are white hairs on it, and the production is delicate and delicate. When preserving double-leaf tea, it is necessary to wrap a large amount of ordinary tea leaves around for protection to prevent the heat from soaking the tea and ruining the quality of the tea. The meticulous and exquisite practice ensures the quality of the tea, and Ouyang Xiu's high evaluation also makes Shuangjing tea famous. Cai Xiang wrote: "It began with Ouyang Yongshu's banquet and was the best tea in Shuangjing", it was Ouyang Xiu's strong recommendation of the flavor of his hometown that made Shuangjing tea loved by the nobles of the capital, and it naturally became one of the tribute teas of the Northern Song Dynasty.
However, "grass tea first" does not mean tea first. In the Song Dynasty, the division of tea leaves was based on the shape, which was called "group tea" or "cake tea" in a pressed form, and the scattered storage was called "grass tea" or "loose tea". Although the quality of Shuangjing tea is indeed excellent, Ouyang Xiu's favorite is the flavor of Longtuan tea, and look at Ouyang Xiu's "Shuangjing Tea":
《Shuangjing Tea》
Ouyang Xiu
Xijiang Shuiqingjiang Shilao,
Raw tea on the stone is like phoenix claws.
Poor wax is not cold and spring is early,
Shuangjing thatched grass first.
White hair follicles with red veil,
Ten catties of tea raise one or two buds.
Chang'an rich and noble five marquis family,
A sip is especially necessary for three days.
Baoyun daily injection is not refined,
Strive for the new and abandon the old world.
How do you know that a gentleman has constant virtue,
Arcana does not change at any time.
You don't see the dragon and phoenix group of Jianxi,
Do not change the old flavor color.
Although Ouyang Xiu praised the mellow beauty and popularity of Shuangjing tea like Huang Tingjian, "Chang'an is rich and noble, and the five marquis families must be praised for three days with a sip", but the last two sentences of "Shuangjing Tea" "You don't see the Jianxi dragon and phoenix group, and don't change the fragrance and color of the old time", have already explained Ouyang Xiu's choice. Dragon group tea is the symbol of the royal family, but also the pride of the royal family, the dragon group tea has great symbolic significance, meaning the emperor's vast grace.
Ming Ouyang statue scroll collection of the Palace Museum
In short, the ancient scholars and doctors not only had political ambitions, but also cultivated and kung fu in their every move, and the pursuit of elegance was also the cultivation of personality. Piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, flowers, and tea all represent Ouyang Xiu's graceful demeanor and literati temperament.
Ouyang Xiu's biography
Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) was a famous writer, politician, and historian of the Northern Song Dynasty. One of the eight masters of the Tang and Song dynasties. A native of Yongfeng, Luling, Jizhou (now Yongfeng County, Ji'an City, Jiangxi). The word Uncle Yong, the number of drunkards, 61 laymen. In the eighth year of Tiansheng (1030), he served as the secretary of the provincial school, the pavilion school, the court surveyor, the Zhiyuan Yuan, the Zhizhi Yuan, the Zhizhi Yuan, the Zhichuzhou Yangzhou Yingzhou and the Ying Tianfu, the Hanlin Bachelor, the Privy Deputy Envoy, and the Governor of the Political Affairs, and was ranked as the chief executive. During this period, he was demoted from Beijing twice because he defended Fan Zhongyan twice. In 1067, after experiencing the turmoil of the imperial court again, Ouyang Xiu, who was pessimistic about everything, resigned from the three states of Jingzhibo, Qing, and Cai, and returned to Yingzhou as the prince and young master. He died in 1072 at the age of sixty-six. Tired posthumously presented to Taishi, Yanguo Gong, Qin Guogong, Chu Guogong, nicknamed "Wenzhong". He once majored in "New Tang Dynasty Book" and wrote "History of the New Five Dynasties". "Ouyang Wenzhong Collection", "Six Words" and so on.
Ouyang Xiu was the leader of the Northern Song Dynasty poetry and literature reform movement, and has an extremely important position in the history of Chinese literature. He is not only a generation of famous ministers, famous for his negative generation, but also open-minded, united with the same way, and attracted the future, Wang Anshi and Su Xun were recommended by him, Zeng Gong, Su Shi, and Su Zhe were his discerning and active recommendations. (Yin Bo)